|
During
the war this design was revised to include a four-chain final
drive, but the chassis and engine remained the same, though the
latter was now set across the frame instead of along it. The
engine had various markedly agricultural features, which were
accounted for by the homely equipment of the factory. The car was
seriously produced from 1919 to 1923 in this form.
At this time motoring of any
sort was extremely expensive, and few, if any, cars as cheap as
this were capable of performing and handling as well. Although the
G.N. was crude and noisy and gave little comfort, the combination
of a fairly powerful small engine in a two-seater car weighing
about 8 cwt. gave excellent acceleration to a maximum of over 50
mph, as well as outstanding economy; many owners claimed up to 70
m.p.g. The price in 1921 was in the region of £250, whereas some
orthodox light cars of far inferior performance cost nearly twice
as much; but the G.N. appealed to a rather different public who
were looking for a small sporting car.
As such it was highly
successful, and the cars are remembered with affection by many who
owned them, though there are extremely few in existence today.
Special versions such as "Mowgli" and "Akela" were successful in
competition, too, and the 1100 c.c. class of the 1921 200 Miles
Race was won by a G.N. driven by Frazer-Nash, after a lap at 77.4
m.p.h. The very light weight of the cars also led to outstanding
appearances at hill-climbs and speed trials, and in a different
sphere they were used by the Paris police as staff vehicles.
In 1922 the policy of the
firm unfortunately changed. The intensive development of light and
cheap cars by such big concerns as the Rover Company had rendered
the limitations of the G.N. design more prominent, and the effort
to mitigate them by adding bigger and better coachwork inevitably
resulted in loss of performance. A shaft-driven chassis with a
little water-cooled engine with an overhead camshaft was
introduced for 1923, and the two founders of the firm left. The
shaft-driven G.N. proved disappointing and in a year or so G.N.s
ceased to be made altogether, in spite of a hasty reversion to the
older type of chassis. Godfrey retired from car production until
his successful introduction in 1937 of the H.R.G., which even
today bears faint traces of its G.N. ancestry. Frazer-Nash set up
on his own to make an improved car on G.N. lines, which should be
a sports car in its own right, rather than an economy car which
happened to go better than most in its class.
As such, the Frazer-Nash had
much in common with the G.N., and when production started early in
1925 it was apparent that quite an exceptional sports car had been
born. The earliest cars had an overhead-valve engine of high
compression known as the "Powerplus", but later the tough, light,
and surprisingly potent British Anzani 12 h.p. was adopted. This
side-valve engine, which was supposed to deliver about 40 b.h.p.
was strong but noisy; it was incapable of much development,
though, even when a Cozette supercharger was added in 1927 to some
models. It was finally superseded by the popular 4ED Meadows
engine of the same dimensions in 1929, when a fourth speed was
added. This gave an altogether more vivid performance, even with
the heavier coachwork (15-i cwt.) then fitted, and combined a
maximum of over 80 m.p.h. with a fuel consumption better than 30
m.p.g.
In the Anzani-engined 'Nash,
three-speed (four to special order) and reverse chain drive and
quarter-elliptic springs were used as on the G.N., and coupled
with elegant and very light aluminium coachwork gave an extremely
snappy performance. A touring version was tested by the motoring
press at 70 m.p.h. in 1925, and gave 40 m.p.g. thanks to an all-up
weight of only 13 cwt. It is an interesting reflection that even
then it was thought worth mentioning that such a car would "carry
on all day at 40 m.p.h."-although in fact such a car would cruise
between 60 and 65 m.p.h. Considering its fairly low price of £315,
the "Nash", though distinctly crude in places, with almost solid
suspension at low speeds, represented very good value for money,
for such performance could not be bought elsewhere for the same
cost.
The chain drive and very
smooth plate clutch gave an exceptionally rapid gear change and
the solid rear axle made the car stable under the most difficult
conditions, although with some tendency on greasy surfaces to go
straight on. The steering was always of the highest quality,
absolutely accurate and devoid of play, rather heavy, and very
high-geared (usually less than one turn from lock to lock).
A downturn in the business in
1928 coincided with a serious bout of nephritis for Archie (he
later recovered and started an engineering firm which exists to
this day, Frazer-Nash Limited) and the Frazer Nash Company was
sold to H.J. Aldington ("Aldy"). Aldy's brothers Donald and Bill
joined him in the business and about 360 chain-drive Frazer Nash
cars were built, in many models, by AFN Limited (AFN, A.F.N.,
Ltd.) until production ceased in 1939.
Undoubtedly what singled out
the G.N. from its contemporaries, contributed largely to the great
success of the Frazer-Nash, became the foundation of innumerable
specials, and survived in limited production until 1939, was the
unique system of transmission. The propeller-shaft ended in a
bevel-box and cross-shaft under the driver's seat. This shaft
carried four loose pinions and four corresponding dog-clutches,
sliding on and keyed to the shaft.
The back axle also carried
four sprocket wheels connected by light chains to the pinions on
the cross-shaft. Thus, by engaging any one of the dog clutches, a
silent and direct ratio was obtained. By a special refinement on
the Frazer-Nash, which was absent from the G.N., it was made
impossible to connect two different ratios at the same time. The
resultant gear change is unique and tremendously enjoyable,
contributing largely to the outstanding character of this great
car- tough, light, simple, fast, and eminently controllable. The
Frazer Nash was always and still is in a class by itself.
While racing and touring in
Europe in 1934, Aldy recognized the merit of BMW's sport/touring
car, the 315 Model. AFN then became the importer of BMW's to
England, rebadging these cars as the "Frazer Nash-BMW". The BMW
Model 328 later became well known for its advanced design and
performance after its introduction in 1936. Three Model 328s with
special aerodynamic aluminium bodies, competed in the 1940 Mille
Miglia very successfully, in spite of their relatively small 2
litre engines.
Immediately after the end of
WWII, Aldy returned to Munich while still on active duty and
rescued one of the factory-team BMW "Mille Miglia" sports-racing
cars, bringing it to England under the guise of his personal 328,
which had been left at the factory before the beginning of the
war. This same car quickly assumed a third identity as the new
1946 Frazer Nash "Grand Prix" model.
Aldy then managed to bring
the 328 designer, Fritz Fiedler, to England, where he updated the
328 design for intended production by both the Bristol Aeroplane
Company and Frazer Nash. A plan to directly share production
didn't work out, but Bristol tooled up for the production of the
BMW-design engine, now the "Bristol", for use in their newly
designed touring models. Bristol intended to diversify from
airplane manufacturing. Bristol also agreed to supply AFN with
engines and other mechanical parts for their planned line of
sports cars, which was based on an update of the BMW 328 Mille
Miglia chassis.
Back |
